Refrigerator



(No ModeL) P. L. MALTBIE.

REFRIGERATOR.

No. 319,986. Patented June 1,v1885.

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VPATENT Erica.'

PAUL L. MALTBIE, or NEWARK, NEW JERsEY.

REFRIGERATOR.

sPEcIFIcArroN forming pan; of Letters Patent No. 319,986, dated .rune 16, 1885.

i Application filed July 1, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom/15 may concern:

Be' it known that I, PAUL L. MALTBIE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying'drawings, forming a part of the same.

Ihe object of this invention is to render the casing of the refrigerator less pervious to heat, and therefore more economical in ice and less liable to dampness, and therefore more durable and less liable to contaminate the contents of the receptacle with impure odors.V

It is also intended to obviate the dripping'of water from the bottom of the ice-pan, and to secure a circulation of dry air in the receptaele.

These improvements consist, rst, in the combination, ina refrigerator-casing, of alayer of felt .interposed between the inner jacket and the outer sheathing, with a layer or layers of paper-or asbestus fabric, arranged as hereinafter described; secondly, in particular means for securing a circulation of air; and, thirdly, in collecting and removing the condensed water which drips from the lower side of the ice-pan, and discharging such drip immediately from the receptacle, with the drainage from the melted ice.

In the drawings, Figure l is a lateral vertical section of a refrigerator containing my improvements, the View being taken on line z z in Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same, taken on line x .x in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the same on line yy in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspec-- tive view of the ice-pan and the braces C detached from the receptacle, to show the drainage-holes Z) and the bending of the vends -of the pan over the tops of the braces, to hang the pan thereon. Fig. 5 is a section of portion of, a casing with a double jacket. Fig. 6 is a similar section of a casing with a double air-space, one part being filled with felting.

The invention' is applicable to refrigerators of all sizes and kinds, but is shown herein applied to a family refrigerator.

To avoid the precipitation of atmospheric moisture upon the outer side of the metallic lining of the receptacle, and to collect the condensation or drip conveniently from the bottom of the ice-pan, I employ the following construction, in which the ice-pan is suspended upon cleats and braces near the top of the receptacle.

A is the receptacle, which may be provided with hooks or shelves to sustain the contents; A is the cover, hinged, to admit the ice, and A2 a door in the front.

B is the ice-pan, which I suspend in the receptacle by its upper edge, and thus prevent any of its sides from contact with the metallic lining of the receptacle.

C C are cleats secured in the upper part'of the receptacle at the front and rear, and C C are braces extended between the cleats at a little distance from both the top and ends of the receptacle, so as to leave a channel, 'c, over each end of the ice-pan when the cover A is closed, the upper edges of the iCe-panbeing secured to such cleats and braces in any secure manner.

To secure a circulation of air, in connection with the channels c c, I form a series of holes, g, in the rear side of the ice-pan, through which the colder air descends into the receptacle,.n1oving over the ice I in its passage, while the warmer air ascends to the top of the ice-pan, over the braces C andv through the channels c. The bottom B of the ypan is sloped toward the rear of the receptacle, so that any moisture-011 its lower side may run backward, and a trough, D, is secured across the rear side of the receptacle in suchl manner'as to catch all the drip from the sloping bottom B', as well as the drainage from the melted ice, which is discharged from the, pan by holes b formed over the same trough. An outlet, e, and pipe e lead the water from the trough to the waste-pipe E at the bottom of the receptacle, and thus discharge the drip from the bottom of the pan simultaneously with the melted ice.

To promote the frequent cleaning of the aircheck usually applied to the waste-pipe, I apply it to the pipe E at its outerend, when it can be readily removed and cleansed when the pan is full of ice; the air-check consisting in an inverted cone, F, held over the bottom of ICO the pipe E by springs f, as shown in Fig. 1, where the cone is detached from the pipe, and shown in perspective.

"With the construction described, the receptacle is singularly free from moisture and wa.- ter, as no apertures exist between the same and the ice-pan through which water can fall, the air-openings g being disposed over the trough D, and the water from every source being collected by such trough.

I find in practice that, as the trough is not in contact with the ice, its temperature is not lower than the general atmosphere of the receptacle, and that there is, therefore, no tendency for moisture to collect upon the outside of the trough and driptherefrom.

The trough is also,made with its bottom sloping downward from both ends to the middle, so that any drip from the outerside of the trough would run to the central point, where it would drip from the end of the outlet cinto the pipe e', instead of falling down in the receptacle.

Having thus described the internal construction, I will explain how I prevent the access of moisture to the outer surface of the cold metallic lining Z and the absorption of such condensed moisture by the wooden jacket I find that asbestus paper or fabric not only resists the passage of heat in a very high degree, but that it will not readily absorb moisture or permit the passage of water through it. I therefore combine .with the wooden jacket j, to which the lining l is secured, a layer of asbestus, preferably placing the same between the metal lining and the jacket; so as to prevent the cold of the lining from affecting the wood in any degree and from causing a precipitation of atmospheric moisture in or upon the fibers of the wood. The asbestus also prevents the escape of any moisture from the receptacle into the jacket when thus arranged. By this means I preserve the wood most effectually from dampness, and secure a most exceptional freedom from decay and foul odors.

Then applied to the inside of the jacket before inserting the lining, the asbestus fabric is unavoidably cut to iit the walls of the receptacle; but if applied to the outer side of the jacket before the outer sheathing of the refrigerator is applied the asbestus can be wrapped around the entire jacket in a single piece, or with very few joints through which atmospheric moisture can penetrate, and it is thus equally effective in resisting moisture from without as if placed next the metallic lining.

To prevent the access of heat to the receptacle, I provide a space between the jacket j and outside wooden sheathing s, and fill the same with an inch and a halt' of hair felting, such as is used to coat steam-boilers. This material is also very free from any tendency to absorb dampness and odors, while the charcoa-l and sawdust fillings heretofore employed in many refrigerators are known to absorb the moisture and odors with great avidity and to communicate malarious qualities to the food in the receptacle when their absorbent power becomes exhausted.

In refrigerators of sufficient size, I prefer to make-a double-wall space around the receptacle and insert the felting in the outer space, thus avoiding most perfectly its contamination with the moisture or vapors from the receptacle. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 1, where h is the inner space, i the center partition of the casing, and h the outer space, represented at the left side of the figure as filled with felting.

In small refrigerators the casing may contain only one space, as shown ath in Fig. 3, and be provided with fillings of felt, paper, and asbestus, as described.

Both constructions are shown in Fig. 2, the double space being shown at the two sides of the casing and the single one at the front and n back. In Figs. 5 and 6 alternative constructions for the casing are shown, in which paper sheathing is combined with the felt and asbestus, and with a double jacket, jj, next the lining Z. In Fig. 5 the partition fi and the sheathing s are shown provided on their inner sides with a facing of paper, p, such as is used inside the weather-boards of houses for the purpose of closing all the cracks in the woodwork, and thus intercepting all currents of air, as well as resisting the penetration of heat to the felting or receptacle.

In Fig. 6 is shown the double jacket j j', consisting of two layers of boards having the asbestus fabric secured between them. Such construction serves to secure the asbestus firmly in place and to form a perfectly impervious barrier to any air-currents. rlhe felt in this figure is shown applied to the space next the jacket, and is protected on its outer side by the partition i and sheathing s, each faced upon its inner side with a layer of paper, p. In Figs. 1 and 3 the casing is shown built upon strips d d, inserted in the spaces h and h', and the layers of paper, felt, and asbestus are preferably inserted in their respective places as the casing is constructed, and the felt is then se- IOO IIO

cured by nails, so as never to shrink or fall down to the lower part of the space containing it, as usually occurs with the powdered materials heretofore employed.

Having thus described the functions of the asbestus, paper, and felting, I do not claim, broadly, the mere use of such materials as nonconductors of heat, as their value for such purpose has long been known, and I am fully aware that similar materials have been employed for filling the air-space of a refrigerator in combinations different from those claimed herein. Ihe state of the art in respect to my improvements is shown in United States Iatents Nos. 289,833, December 11, 1883; 303,794, August 19, 1884; 88,100, March 23, 1869; 56,154, July 31, 1866, and 224,360, February 10, 1880; and I therefore disclaim the use of the mechanical elements I employ, except in the combinations herein claimed.

The paper serves, in connection with the felting, to prevent circulation of air and to compensate for any shrinkage of the woodwork, which would tend to open joints or cracks and admit a hot or damp atmosphere.

The braces C may be made of at galvanized metal, or by bending over the upper edges oi the pan, so as to strengthen the' same, as in Fig. 4C.

If made of wood, the cleats C may be covered by the sheet metal of the jacket j, and the entire interior of the receptacle thus be kept free from any material capable of absorbing moisture.

I therefore claim my particular construction in the following manner:

1. The combination, in a refrigerator-casing, of a metallic lining, a wooden jacket, and a layer of asbestus adjacent to the receptacle, and an intermediate space, and outer sheathing,

' all substantially as shown and described.

` 2. rllhe combinatiominarefrigerator-casing, of a metallic lining, a wooden jacket, and a layer of asbestus adjacent to the receptacle, an intermediate space -filled with felting, and an outer sheathing, all substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in a refrigerator-casing, of a metallic lining, a wooden jacket and a layer of asbestus adjacent to the receptacle, an inner space closed by a layer of wood and paper, an outer space closed by a sheathing of wood, and alayer of felting inserted in one of such spaces, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, in a refrigerator-casing, of layers of paper, asbestus, and felt, arranged substantially as shown and described.

5. rIhe combination, with the receptacle A, of the ice-pan B, suspended in the upper part and formed with the sloping bottom B', the

draining-holes b, formed in the lower part of 45 said bottom over the trough D, the trough attached to the back of the receptacle beneath the holes b and rear edge of the ice-pan B to catch the drip and drainage from the ice-pan, and the outlet-pipe from the trough, the whole being arranged and operated as herein shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. n PAUL L. MALTBIE. Witnesses:

C. C. HERRICK, THos. S. CRANE. 

